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Major Archibald W. Butt - Augusta's Titanic Connection

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Archibald W. Butt was born in Augusta in 1865 and became an aide to presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.(File)

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Maj. Archibald W. Butt served in the Philippines and Cuba in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War until he was tapped by President Roosevelt in 1908 to become his military aide. Butt stayed in that position with President Taft.(File)

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Major Butt's last message to his brethren of Temple Lodge, mailed from Gibraltar on March 11, 1912. Butt died during the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912.

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Front page of The Augusta Chronicle on April 16, 1912, one day after the Titanic hit an iceberg, and sank about 700 nautical miles east of Nova Scotia.(File)

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The trunk of Maj. Archibald W. Butt that was recovered from the Titanic. (AP/File)

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Story conceding Maj. Butt's death in the April 22, 1912 issue of the Augusta Chronicle.

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Cover letter for a condolence letter from President Taft to a family member of Maj. Butt. (File)

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Condolence letter from President Taft to a family member of Maj. Butt.(File)

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Front page of memorial service program for Maj. Archibald W. Butt who perished when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912.

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Memorial service program for Maj. Archibald Butt who perished when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912.

A bumper sticker advocating to save Butt Memorial Bridge is seen at the Augusta Museum of History downtown Augusta, on Wednesday, April 11, 2012. (Staff)

Description

Archibald W. Butt was born in Augusta in 1865 and became an aide to presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. He was returning aboard the Titanic from a six-week journey in Europe when the ship hit an iceberg , and sank April 15, 1912 about 700 nautical miles east of Nova Scotia.

When the Titanic began to sink, witnesses said Butt helped calm the panicked evacuation. He was among the roughly 1,500 people who died in the disaster.